Sermon Cloud

Galatians 6:11-18

What is it that you find yourself boasting in? Is it your favorite sports team, your political party, the size of your home, the kind of car you drive, the size of your church, the size of your grow group, your spouse, your children and their accomplishments, the places you've traveled, or how about the things you've accomplished in life? How we spend our time and what we tend to talk about throughout the day is a good indicator of where our heart lies.

There are many things in this life that we are prone to boast in. Whether gifts from God or so-called "personal" achievements, we like to boast. Today's message from Galatians 6 categorizes all boasting under two separate headings so that we can see that we are to boast in the only thing which is truly worth our praise.

1. We Can Boast in the Flesh (vv. 11-13)
Boasting in the flesh is exemplified by three motivations of the Judaizers who were written about in the Book of Galatians by the apostle Paul. The Judaizers were motivated by pride (v. 12a), fear (v. 12b) and by hypocrisy (v. 13).

We must understand that if we rely on works for salvation, then the work of Christ on the cross was meaningless and that Christ died needlessly. In this sense, God's grace is nullified. Further, the law was provided to men by God to show us our sin and to demonstrate God's character. It shows us how utterly impossible it is to live up to God's standard, and therefore convicts us of the need for a savior and God's grace and forgiveness.

2. You Can Boast in the Cross (vv. 14-16)
There are three reasons that all have for boasting in the cross. It has the power to free men from the world's bondage (v. 14), the power to do what the flesh cannot do (v. 15), and the power to bring salvation (v. 16).

The Bible gives us stern warning about what we should be boasting about, and Jesus Himself warned us that we do not have the right to boast in the cross without taking up the cross ourselves. As such we should always be ready to count the cost of our life!

So, what do you boast in today?